Star Wars 9 director responds to petition to bring George Lucas back for Episode IX

You may have heard of a fan petition making the rounds on the internet demanding the return of George Lucas to direct Star Wars: Episode IX. The Change.org petition now has over 20,000 supporters, but before you start worrying how current director, Colin Trevorrow will take the news, he already knows...

Speaking to ET at the BAFTA Awards Season Tea Party the Jurassic World director said: "It’s funny, I saw that, and it was on a day where I was at LucasFilm giving this big speech to everyone about how we want to channel the invention and just the raw creativity and the boldness that George brought to these films and not being afraid that we’re going to embarrass ourselves by doing something that might be crazy.

"When George Lucas made Star Wars, a lot of people thought it was crazy. When you try to pitch what that movie’s about – if you’ve never heard of Star Wars before, you say, ‘Here’s a character. His father’s part robot, but he can also do magic. And there’s a guy who can fly in a spaceship. He’s got a dog for a friend!’ – it sounds insane but it’s the greatest story ever told. I just want to embrace that kind of invention and creativity that he brought to it.”

It sounds like he isn't worried about being replaced and let's face it, there's no way Lucas is coming back, right? Let us know what you think below.

On January 11, 2016 we wrote...

Not everyone is happy with the choice of director for the yet-unnamed Star Wars: Episode IX. Some fans are asking Disney to replace Jurassic World'sColin Trevorrow Jurassic World with the saga's original creator, George Lucas. The Change.org petition currently sits at roughly 17,000 signatures, with 25,000 as its next target.

Before you worry about a hypothetical "Star Wars: Episode IX - Binks Lives", keep in mind there's about zero percent chance this will happen. Lucas wasn't strong armed out of ownership by a bullying cartoon mouse and JJ Abrams (the latter of which has nothing to do with Star Wars 9 anyway); he sold the rights in a contractual business deal. As he said in November: "I will go my way, and I'll let them go their way." This isn't exactly a new situation for Lucas either, considering he didn't direct The Empire Strikes Back nor Return of the Jedi.

But let's entertain this notion just a little bit. After all, we very nearly complimented the prequels, noting that Lucas (almost) wrote a great story. Assuming it could happen and having seen the Disney approach, would you want to see Lucas in the director's chair for the final chapter of the new trilogy?

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Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.